No less than 184 runners will toe the starting line for the 13th McDonald Forest 50K ultramarathon Saturday morning.

Those runners might be deemed slightly masochistic, not for tackling the distance but for taking on what is widely considered one of the more challenging ultramarathon courses in Oregon.

There are elevation changes throughout the 31.6-mile distance, dropping from 600 feet above sea level to less than 450 feet before climbing past 1,200 feet — and that’s in the first four miles. Seven times during the course runners climb to more than 1,200 feet, with a tremendous 1,400-plus peak crested at mile 18.6.

There are no carefully paved stretches or manicured lawns to race over, but trails that can turn slick and treacherous if it starts to rain.

For those reasons, it is no race for the faint of heart.

The race begins at 8 a.m., although a small field of runners who have requested an early start will set out at 7 a.m.

Nonetheless, both Todd Braje and Penny McDermott, last year’s winners, are registered for the run.

Braje, 31, set the course record in 2007 as the first runner to ever complete the torturious endeavor in less than four hours.

A marathoner by training, Braje crossed the line in 3 hours, 54 minutes and 58 seconds. It was the first ultra marathon where Braje pushed himself to run fast.

“There seem to be more of the fast marathoners, the 2:20 guys, running ultras,” said Clem LaCava, who organized the first 10 Mac Forest runs. “You know how Eugene used to be the Track Capital, well now Eugene is starting to become the Ultra Capital of the world.”

Braje is among that stable of runners in Eugene. There are 14 runners entered from that community, second to Corvallis’ 28 entrants among Willamette Valley cities.

Braje has already won another 50K this year, the Way Too Cool 50K in Cool, Calif., on March 8. Braje finished that race in 3:32:12.5.

Dan Olmstead, also from Eugene, was the third-place finisher at WTC and is entered in today’s race. He ran a 3:35:05.1 on March 8.

Last year’s runner-up, Neil Olsen of Central Point, is also back to challenge Braje. Olsen finished in 4:05:22 in 2007.

McDermott, who ran in the U.S. Olympic Women’s Marathon Trials in Boston in April, has won the women’s Mac Forest title the last two years. She is the only runner to ever win the race more than once.

One of the Corvallis runners, McDermott finished 21st overall in 2007 in 4:55:48.

Another Corvallis runner, Linda Samet, was the fourth-place female in 2007. She finished 41st overall in 5:25.55.

The run is a fund-raiser for local high school cross country teams, several of which help provide support services by operating aid stations along the course.

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